Exploring the Impact of Age and Class Level on Emotional Perception: A Study of Nigerian Secondary School Girls Using the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (Student Abstract)

Christianah Titilope Oyewale, Rafiat M. Bamimore Akodu, Faith Adeoluwa Adeyemi

Abstract: Assessing social cognition in adolescents by understanding emotional perception is crucial, especially through tasks like the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET). This ongoing research investigates the emotional perception skills of Nigerian high school girls through the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET). Preliminary analysis looks at how age and class level (SS1 and SS2) affect RMET scores, with 20% of the data (n = 215) already gathered. ANOVA findings display a notable distinction among class levels (p = 0.024), while regression analysis suggests that age effectively predicts RMET scores (β = 1.06, p = 0.037), showcasing that older students achieve higher scores. These preliminary results indicate that age is a significant factor in how emotions are perceived, and more data is being collected and analyzed to gain deeper understanding. These findings can guide strategies to enhance social skills in education and improve AI models for emotion recognition in diverse and age-sensitive contexts.